Few issues are more contentious between Catholics and Jews than the Vatican’s role in the Second World War. It has even led to diplomatic tensions between Rome and Tel Aviv.

On Oct. 19, the Vatican announced the cancellation of the pontiff's visit to Israel, in protest against the persistence of the Israeli Holocaust museum's caricature of Pope Pius XII. Eugenio Pacelli, who became Pope Pius XII upon his election in 1939, presided over the Catholic Church during World War II, one of the most challenging and dangerous periods in modern history. Shortly after his death in 1958, Pope Pius XII became the center of a controversy regarding the church's role during the Holocaust: Did the pontiff do enough to save the Jews? 

According to many Israelis, he betrayed his most sacred calling to protect life. The Yad Vashem museum, established in 1953 by the Israeli Knesset and the world's largest Holocaust repository, has a caption under a portrait of the Catholic leader stating he did not safeguard the Jews from their persecutors, he did not "sign the Allied declaration condemning the extermination of the Jews," and that he erred in remaining "neutral" throughout the war. A recent Israeli statement supports this viewpoint: "In the context of the open and good dialogue with the Catholic Church, we cannot close our eyes in the face of the historical role of Pope Pius XII and his behavior in the days in which thousands of Jews were sent daily to be massacred." This is an obstinate and disrespectful approach towards a man that many Catholics—and others around the world—view as saintly. The Vatican has begun the process for his beatification, the step which precedes canonization.

Pope Pius XII presided over a church that regards its mission as universal, not rooted to any one nation or people. During the Nazi era, Pope Pius XII was responsible for protecting the Catholic Church in all the states in which the Nazis and Fascists were launching devastating and brutal attacks. Had he not been a skilled diplomat in this calamitous time, the many defenseless nuns, monks and priests all across Europe would have been mercilessly slaughtered. In light of this, Pope Pius XII was nothing short of exemplary: He shrewdly protected as many innocent civilians as he could while also making numerous brave statements, both public and private, against the evils of racism and the grave sinfulness of idolizing the state. Moreover, papal relief programs saved at least 860,000 Jews from extermination. Pope Pius XII is considered a hero by many around the world, including fair-minded Jews.

Upon his death in 1958, Golda Meir, who was then an Israeli delegate to the United Nations and would later become the country’s prime minister, praised Pope Pius XII’s courageous efforts to rescue countless Jews from Hitler’s Holocaust.

"When fearful martyrdom came to our people in the decade of Nazi terror, the voice of the pope was raised for the victims,” she said. “The life of our times was enriched by a voice speaking out on the great moral truths above the tumult of daily conflict. We mourn a great servant of peace."

Dr. Raphael Cantoni, a leader in Italy's Jewish Assistance Committee, added: "The Church and the papacy have saved Jews as much and insofar as they could Christians. Six million of my co-religionists have been murdered by the Nazis... but there would have been many more victims had it not been for the efficacious intervention of Pius XII."

The Israeli persistence in such superficial aspersions bespeaks a dreadful double standard. If we want to play the blame game for the horrific crimes of the Nazis, we can easily just as well place a caption saying "did not do enough to save the Jews" on the tomb of every Jew who either participated in the regime (as some felt compelled to do as guards or administrators in the camps), remained silent throughout the persecutions or even did not take action in the trains or the concentration camps to defend themselves and their neighbors. We would all rightly recoil at this as the most ahistorical and uncharitable view of individuals caught in a barbaric age. Why is not the same courtesy extended to a former leader of the Catholic Church? Enough is enough.